Vancouver, July 8 (Inditop.com) In a racist attack that has shocked Canadians, three white supremacists have been arrested for targeting a lone black man in Courtenay city on Vancouver Island near here.
In a video of the assault posted on YouTube, 38-year-old Jay Phillips is seen defending himself against the three white attackers Friday evening.
One of them was arrested at the weekend, while two others surrendered Tuesday.
In the video, the white supremacists are seen yelling racist slurs and attacking Phillips in the parking lot of his apartment complex.
After retreating against the three men, the well-built black man is seen punching one of his assailants to the ground.
In retaliation, he is hit and knocked to the ground by his attackers who rain punches and kicks on him before he manages to break free. Even their dog joins them in attacking the black man.
After intervention by some neighbours, the white supremacists drove away in their truck, yelling racial slurs at him.
“They kept yelling they were going to lynch me and kill me and my whole family and this is a white town and get the f— out of here,” Phillips was quoted as saying in the local media.
“Once they figured out they had met someone who was not afraid they didn’t know what to do. They were like little hyenas trying to dart in and out to engage the lion, but they wouldn’t engage me one on one,” said the black man who suffered injuries to his ribs and got stitches in his head.
Police said the three men have been charged only with assault, not hate crime.
But they said they are “currently reviewing video evidence and conducting witness inquiries to determine the cause of the incident. Preliminary investigation indicates that there may have been a racial element involved in the incident”.
The black man, who was born in Canada, said the attack on him just another example of the racism he has faced since his childhood.
